This Week In Fandom History

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March 26, 2005: Doctor Who Returns to the BBC Mar 31, 2024

Show notes

Fantastic! This week, Emily and V finally get to talk about one of their shared favorite fandoms: Doctor Who (New Who). With a focus on the emotional, oft-overlooked Ninth Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston, they discuss the best and worst aspects of the show, how it makes them cry, and some timely (pun intended) elements brought specifically to the reboot by Eccleston, Billie Piper, and writer Russell T. Davies. Come along with us on the TARDIS, won't you?

Additional Sources

A Love Letter to the Aggressive Queerness of Captain Jack Harkness by Patrick Lenton

What Does the New Doctor Who Offer Working-Class Whovians? by Sarah Hattfield

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March 22-25, 2012: Holy Musical B@man! Mar 24, 2024

Show notes

He's darkness! He's vengeance! This week, V and Emily look at the uniquely nerdy StarKid fandom and their superhero parody musical, HOLY MUSICAL B@MAN! (That's "B@man," not "Batman," in case Warner Brothers asks.) They look at the way StarKid musicals feel like your Tumblr dashboard, how Sean Astin will do basically anything you ask him to do apparently, and how absolutely insufferable your hosts were as high school theatre kids. (Yes, theatre, not theater. That's how insufferable.) Musical references abound! And, amazingly, we understand a joke in the show BECAUSE OF A PREVIOUS EPISODE OF TWIFH!

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March 1988: The Killing Joke Is Released Mar 17, 2024

Show notes

Do you want to know how he got these scars? This week, Emily and V take a trip to Gotham City to look back at Alan Moore's Batman magnum opus, The Killing Joke. While it garnered tons of accolades for its darkness, grittiness, violence, and portrayal of The Joker's semi-definitive backstory, The Killing Joke has also received a lot of (totally warranted) criticism for its darkness... grittiness... violence... and misogyny. The history and continued legacy of what happened to Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke is complex, dark, and hard to reconcile. Oracle was a badass character who represented a deeply underserved portion of the DC Comics audience; however, Gail Simone kind of had a point that it was metatextually misogyny keeping Babs in her chair. DC's choice(s) surrounding Barbara have no easy answers.

However, your intrepid hosts do find a light in the dark-grim-grittiness of Gotham as they discover (create) its worst strip mall and the heroic citizens who brave its potholes...

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March 7, 2002: The Snapefic Liberation Front Forms (PLUS: The Snapewife Saga) Mar 11, 2024

Show notes

There's no need to call him 'sir,' professor! This week, V and Emily really, really try very, very hard to be generous and understanding about people loving Severus Snape even though it is extremely difficult for them because he is the worst. In their personal opinions. Which are not facts, just opinions, and do not mean that you cannot love Severus Snape if you love him!!! Go ahead and love him!!! And listen to this tale of a group of women who really, REALLY loved him!!! Ahem. Do you have thoughts or feelings about Severus Snape? Were you, perhaps, astrally married to him?

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February-March 2009: Racefail '09 Continues, with Guest bossymarmalade Mar 03, 2024

Show notes

No pithy exclamation this week, folks, we're jumping right into the actual episode description: This week, V and Emily are joined by Maggie @bossymarmalade, who was one of the key meta-writers during this unfortunate fandom (and wider writing world) event. "Racefail '09" is the moniker for a lengthy discussion on LiveJournal in 2009 about the role of race in fandom and the SF/F community, from heinous depictions of POC in SF/F titles to the way POC always seem to die first in fan-favorite TV shows to the lack of representation of fans of color at conventions, and more. Maggie very graciously agreed to be on TWIFH as a primary source for what it was like "on the ground" during this touchstone fandom imbroglio, and we are so grateful that she was willing to look back at this turbulent and often painful time with us. Were you a writer or follower of Racefail '09 on LJ? What do you think its legacy is in fandom today?

FanHistory Wiki's Racefail Timeline

Avalon's Willow's Racefail Timeline

DeepaD's "I Didn't Dream of Dragons"

bossymarmalade's "Sees Fire"

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February 2009: Twilight Fandom Stays Wide Awake Feb 18, 2024

Show notes

Badwards and cookies and unicorns, oh my! This week, V and Emily head to Forks and dive off the cliff into the world of Twihards, Twank, and one very special gazebo as they look at the first Twilight superfic and, arguably, the one with the biggest impact on the fandom: Wide Awake by angstgoddess003. Is this fic the reason that 50 Shades of Grey exists? Kind of. Is it ridiculous? Absolutely. But did V gobble up every cookie-themed chapter? Hell yeah! Learn about a Cassandra Clare-level wank with us and -- unlike the Cullen vamps -- burst into flames of rage at E.L. James' grossness. Were you a Twihard (or perhaps a Twimom)? Do you suffer from insomnia that can only be cured by the beautiful bad boy next door??

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February 21, 2021: Sexy Times With WangXian Is Suspended From AO3 (Add Tags Here) Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

The Author would like to tell you all to suck it! This week, V and Emily scroll way, way, way back to 2021, when every single fucking page of AO3 was blighted by the tagslist on the one, the only: Sexy Times With WangXian. You know it. You hate it. And it led to archive-wide changes in tag limits and a discussion about tagging etiquette (and those terrible multifandom short-fic works that take up your whole screen. You know the ones). Were you in STWWX's direct fire?

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February 10, 2021: Charisma Carpenter Calls Out Joss Whedon Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

CUT! This week, Emily and V go back in time for a retrospective of truly despicable actions and quotes by a truly despicable man, Joss Whedon, whom fandom-at-large gave far too many passes for far too long. From killing off Cordelia Chase to punish Charisma Carpenter to outright racism against Ray Fisher, Joss Whedon's career is as full of people to whom he was joyfully cruel as it is full of nerdcore heavy hitters. Can you really separate art from the artist? What is the line beyond which art just isn't worth it?

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January 29, 1996: Threshold Day! Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

PEPPERONI! This week, V and Emily go completely off the rails as they join in on the annual Star Trek holiday of Threshold Day. This is the silliest episode we have ever done and likely will ever do. Get ready for salamanders! Polls! Crabs! Daddy issues! If you've never celebrated Threshold Day, just... get ready.

With thanks to @hollie47, @vanilkaplays, @fictionalred, @forfuckssakejim, @myenterpriseisparked, @spacelizardswhopassedthreshold, @wanderingwriter87, @ohmyoverland, and Star Trek fandom as a whole. Also, the salamander babies.

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January 20, 2015: Parse Drops (TW F-Slur, Homophobic Violence) Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

Helloooooo, internet land! This week, Emily and V were treated to a primer on the OMG Check Please! fandom by listener and friend-of-the-pod korechthonia, and Emily explains the divide between the pro-Parse and anti-Parse sides of the otherwise sweet and peaceful fandom. Plus, she tells V about growing up on a boys' hockey team herself and losing a tooth on the ice! Also, inextricable from OMGCP's sweet tale of gay hockey players in love is the sad, homophobic truth of the NHL, so we had to dig into that as well. But mostly: cute hockey comic about love and pies. WERE YOU PART OF THE KENT PARSON DISCOURSE OF 2016 OR WERE YOU NORMAL?

If you would like to suggest an event in fandom history and/or give us a fandom primer, get in touch on our Tumblr! You can support this podcast and also get in touch with us on Patreon.

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